One More Chance

by Lucy Ayrton

Dani hasn't had an easy life. She's made some bad choices and now she's paying the ultimate price; prison.

With her young daughter Bethany, growing up in foster care, Dani is determined to be free and reunited with her. There's only one problem; Dani can't stay out of trouble.

Dani's new cellmate Martha is quiet and unassuming. There's something about her that doesn't add up. When Martha offers Dani one last chance at freedom, she doesn't hesitate.

Everything she wants is on the outside, but Dani is stuck on the inside. Is it possible to break out when everyone is trying to keep you in . . .

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2018

About the author

Lucy Ayrton is Communications Manager of a prisons charity, and much of ONE MORE CHANCE is informed by the people she has met and the time she has spent in prisons, especially on the Holloway Mother and Baby Unit.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Warwick University, and is a lively presence on the performance poetry scene. She wrote and performed two full-length spoken word shows at the Edinburgh Festival: Lullabies to Make Your Children Cry, recipient of the PBH Best Newcomer Award, and adapted into a pamphlet with Stewed Rhubarb Press.

The Splitting of the Mermaid was a winner of the Ideastap Members Presents: Preview Season and was performed at Underbelly. She also blogs as Lucy In The Pub With Cider, about literature, feminism and baking. Lucy is lives in Oxford.

Reviews

[Stace]

Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com

Dani has had a hard life which has seen her in and out of prison. This time though being on the inside feels different, Dani now has a daughter Bethany who is living with Foster Parents. Her cellmate is pregnant and is off to the mother and baby unit meaning that she will soon be getting a new cellmate.

The new girl Martha isn’t like the other inmates, she’s a little weird and quiet but looks can be deceptive. She tells Dani that she has visions and that she can make spells, including ones that could get Dani out of prison to be with her daughter.

With the option of staying clean and going through rehabilitation programmes the alternative before she can be with her daughter, will Dani see Martha’s way the easy way out and is Martha everything she claims to be?

The first thing that I noticed about this book was how real it felt. I don’t have any real-life experience with prisons, even if I only live down the road from one, but Dani certainly felt like a real person and the scenario she was in felt very real too. My only problem with Dani was that I also didn’t really care too much for her either and at times she bugged the life out of me.

With Ms. Ayrton being a Communications Manager for a prisons charity the whole narrative and plot felt authentic and gripping. It was fascinating to witness the inmates and the way they were with one another. You can perfectly visualise what is happening at every step which made the book come to life.

I’ve not read a book set in prison before, only ones with snippets of them, so it was an eye-opener for me. I enjoyed the book and the pace moved pretty steadily and I read it over just a few sittings.

I don’t really know what genre I would put this under as it has parts of numerous genres in it. I was amazed that this is Ms. Ayrton's debut novel as it was so well structured, written fluidly and the plot held my attention throughout.

[Amanda]

Danielle gives birth to Bethany and she is taken away to be fostered, we know Danielle is a drug addict and has been in and out of prison several times for assault and drug dealing. You cannot help but judge her for how she has turned out, but throughout the book we find out why she became hooked on drugs after hooking up with the wrong type of friends.

Dani’s new cell mate Martha arrives and then it gets very strange as Dani sees her daughter being attacked by a dog in a park and Martha tells her this is the future and she must escape and save her.

Martha then sets up a spell with eggshells , blood and hair to aide Dani’s escape.

A very strange story that started off as a prison drama with an odd blend of what I would call witchcraft and magic thrown Into the mix. I did enjoy it especially the flashbacks as they felt more real than the main story. Overall an intriguing read that kept me reading to find out what happens at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

[Mark]

Dani is in prison, her daughter Bethany is growing up outside, Dani has a new cell mate Martha who is ‘different’
All fairly standard so far, the insight into prison life is fairly harrowing ( as is the language but realistic I guess )
But then Dani has a dream that Bethany is attacked by a dog at a park where William and Kate are going to be!, Martha, can see visions and sees this as a sign...Martha then makes a kinda spell that includes eggshells to ( in the long run ) make it possible for Dani to escape to save her daughter
Lost you yet? It kinda did me and I found it unbelievable from there on in....the story does develop and gets exciting ish and then after a fairly good few chapters seems to just end and I wasn’t really sure of the ending, what it meant or what was to become of Dani
The characters were ok but just ok, the writing style ok, the plot ok, decidedly ok all round...
There was some emotive writing and the flashback chapters were more focused on this than the present day chapters
There is quite a lot of talk re drugs and the taking of them
At times quite a soulless and a book that gave you a feeling of despair
I look forward though to reading more from this author and seeing where her next book goes
2,5 stars rounded to 3

[Adele Shea]

'll be honest, I really don't know how I feel about this book. I didn't dislike. I found it abit strange but I had to finish it to see what the outcome was.

[Bookread2day]

Review by www.bookread2day.wordpress.com
This book made feel really emotional for Dani. This sad story starts when Dani has given birth to a baby girl, but with Dani serving a prison sentence, her baby daughter is given to foster parents. Dani shared a cell with Lisa. It made want to cry as poor Dani never had a vistor and regularly looked forward to her baby’s foster parents sending her photos, but what upset me even more was Dani’s cell friend Lisa is pregnant and seemed to had it all with her family always sending her stuff. I would with my hands on my heart recommend reading One More Chance. I found One More Chance by Lucy Ayrton expertly written with characters that I really felt something for. Author Lucy Ayrton is the communications manager of a prisons charity, and much of the book One More Chance is informed by the people she met and the time she spent in prisons. Lucy has an MA in Creative Writing from Warwick University.

[Beth (bibliobeth)]

One More Chance landed on my doorstep courtesy of Millie Seaward and the team at Dialogue Books, a new imprint from Little, Brown publishers that "source, nurture and publish writing talent – and reach audiences – from areas currently under-represented or not covered by the mainstream publishing industry. This will include people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, the LGBTQI+ community and those with disabilities." 

I thoroughly support this initiative and a huge thank you to Millie and Dialogue for providing me with a copy of this gripping debut novel in exchange for an honest review. As soon as I realised this was a story set inside the British prison system, and specifically focused on the life of female prisoners, I knew it was a book I had to pick up. There's been a lot of negative press recently about the state of British prisons and generally, it's a topic I'm very intrigued by, both here and in other countries. I was delighted to discover an instantly compelling narrative with characters that felt completely authentic and I sped through it in no time at all.

This is the story of Dani, who has spent a fair few spells in prison after recurrent drugs-related offences. However, when we currently meet her, she becomes desperate that her current stay in jail is going to be her last. For Dani has something now to fight for - her young daughter, Bethany who has been taken away from her and placed with foster parents. Dani is determined to get her back but before this can happen, she has to resist any drama within the prison system (which is harder than it initially appears) go through a drug programme service so that she can "get clean," and reduce the risk of re-offending in the future and finally, prove she can have a career and a way of providing for her baby on the outside. Things start to look up for Dani when she gets a mysterious new cell-mate, Martha who insists that she can help Dani get to her daughter. However, is it really is easy as that? Will Dani be able to resist temptation and keep out of trouble or will the thought of Bethany prove too difficult to pass up?

For what I expected from this novel, One More Chance ticked all the relevant boxes. It was a fascinating insight into the world of female prisoners and felt remarkably gritty and genuine. The author, Lucy Ayrton, is Communications Manager of a prison charity and much of this story was inspired by women she met and talked with on visits, particularly within the Holloway Mother And Baby Unit. This really comes across in the narrative, you can feel the characters bouncing off the pages with their authenticity. These people feel very real and believable and although they may have issues, it's impossible not to feel some sort of sympathy for the situation they find themselves in.

Our female lead, Dani in particular is wonderfully interesting and I really enjoyed getting to know her. She drove me absolutely crazy with the decisions she made sometimes but in the end, I just felt a great deal of pity for her, especially the inner turmoil she experienced in being apart from her daughter. Dani often felt she needed to put on a front, especially in a system that promotes violence and the importance of never showing your fear but I could sense her vulnerability and appreciated the emotional roller-coaster that rocked her childhood and adolescence life.

One More Chance is a page turning and at times, eye-opening read about the world of female incarceration from an exciting new voice in fiction that really understands what she's writing about. I'm looking forward to seeing what Lucy Ayrton does next!

For my full review and many more, please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com

[Sue Wallace]

One more chance by Lucy Ayrton.
Danielle Grove is in prison.  Her baby girl Bethany is in foster care. She gets a new cell mate Martha. Martha is different. Quiet.  Can dani get OUT and get her baby back? Can she get out and not go back inside like she's done in the past?
A fantastic read.  I loved the story and the characters.  Except Chris.  She was a meani.  I liked Dani and Martha. Surprised how quickly I read this. Just couldn't put it down.  Wanted to know what happened.  A great read. 5*.

[Debra K]

Now, I am not normally one to pick up books about prison, drugs and rehabilitation. It is not that they aren't good stories, but they are just not the type of story that I would pick up. That said, however, there was something about this book that drew me in.

When reading the description, for me it read like this was going to be the story of Dani breaking out of prison to get to her daughter. Realistically, for me this was not the best part of this story. The best part was actually learning more about Dani, her background and watching her character grow as the story goes along. We start off the story by seeing her as a repeat offender, someone who is always going to end up back in prison. As the story goes on, she changes and really wanting to rather than being forced into change.

Don't let some characters fool you in this story, some are mean and some are friendly but that doesn't mean that they are going to stay that way... There is also a kind of supernatural/psychic element to it that although it was woven into the story very nicely, I found it very hard to believe that was really happening.

A really dramatic character driven story that you really should pick up...



For more reviews, please check out the link below:
Debra's Book Cafe

Debs :-)

[Angela Smith]

It's a very interesting story in the way that you wonder if Dani's cellmate mate Martha has some sort of witchy second sight power or if she is the queen of manipulation and playing on a weak mind to achieve her aims.

Dani is a poor and uneducated girl who has been in and out of prison since the day she left home. She's done everything from being a heroine addict to going on the game to support her habit. You get flash backs of her life before she left home. Her family thought her no good so she went down a route based on her own self worth.

What she wants more than anything is to get herself sorted out so she has a chance of getting out and seeing her daughter again. Martha seems timid but reveals something a lot more chilling. Like I said it seems more like Martha is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

[Pol]

First time reading a Lucy Ayrton Book. Don't really know how I feel about it, but kept reading just to see how it ended.

[Kathryn]

Lucy Ayrton’s One More Chance is one of four books helping to launch Little, Brown imprint Dialogue Books this year. It’s an imprint dedicated to introducing wider diversity and more inclusivity by giving a voice to those often overlooked by mainstream publishing. And here, that voice belongs to a young mother in Holloway prison.

I struggled initially with Dani as the main protagonist, feeling frustrated by her attitude and constant truculence, while finding myself distracted by other characters, in particular queen bee Chris and the altogether more mysterious Martha.

However, as Dani’s backstory is drip fed to us, it helped me begin to understand her, how she ends up where she does and why she behaves in this way. And by the end of the book, I grudgingly admired her and even felt ever so slightly hopeful for the future. So all credit to Lucy Ayrton’s writing for effecting this transition in Dani and my reaction to her.

There are some more mystical elements to the story which I chose to go along with partly because I figured Dani sees them as something to pass the time but which also feed on her personal circumstances and desperation to see her little girl. It’s up to you how you view them and how much weight you attach.

Where Lucy Ayrton very nearly lost me was in the scene at a park where a key absence goes unexplained, and I did tire of people staring at each other and how loaded with meaning each of those stares were.

Prison life is by its very nature going to be repetitive but I think Lucy Ayrton otherwise does a pretty good job of counteracting that here. It’s helped along by a subtle and intriguing subplot playing out in the background, as well as the following nice touches:

Dani’s fixation with the crack in the ceiling above her head makes you wonder if everything is going to come crashing down around her or not; her kid’s photos on the wall and the obvious enjoyment Dani gets from a small bar of chocolate both highlight how little she has to cling to; the way she carefully extracts her new cellmate’s story is telling and has all the more impact as a result; while the run ins they have with Chris and her gang add menace as well as a sense of urgency to the story.

There’s also great symmetry in the queen bee scenes that bookend the main story which made me smile and underlined how cyclical (even prison) life can be.

This book works for me because Lucy Ayrton persuaded me to give Dani that all-important One More Chance by hearing her out and listening to her story. Why not do the same? It’s well worth it.

[Kath]

Wow, this book definitely kept me sane during a long coach journey stuck in traffic! I was able to block out the world and immerse myself wholly in Dani's story.
We first meet her when she is in prison. As we get to know more about her we see flash backs to her childhood, to see the events from the past that shaped her present day incarceration. Back in the present, we see her meet her new cell mate, Martha, and how, together they plan how Dani can get out, keep clean and stay out and, hopefully, get her daughter back.
Each chapter of this book begins with a fact about women's prisons, or women offenders. These facts complement the part of the story they are inserted into and add some rich colour and food for thought as the rest of Dani's life is told. It's evident from these that the author has definitely done her research and, when coupled with the stories of what went on in prison for Dani, definitely opened my eyes about certain things.
The characters were all pretty well crafted and their behaviour and interactions felt real. Dani was a bit brash and a fan of colourful language but all her actions and dialogue were congruent with her character so that didn't faze me at all. Martha was very interesting and, I guess, will be the marmite character in the book based on what she is and does. Me, I found her intriguing and with there was a Martha in my life!
The story itself was powerful emotional for me. I really felt for Dani at times, others I just wanted to slap her silly and urge her do something else, take a different path, but then life's not that easy, especially when I have never been in any of her situations personally. Who am I to judge? There but for the grace and all that. It was gritty and brutally honest which gave it a claustrophobic feel at times.
As I always do when I find a new author to me, I tried to check out her back catalogue and was completely amazed that this is actually her debut novel. Wow! It was so very well written I would never have guessed that at all.
All in all a good solid read that grabbed me from the off and held me hostage throughout. I really can't wait to see what the author serves me up for my next course. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

[Sapphire]

What a joy to read something original, written in such a way that it captivated me from the start.

Despite having a relatively decent upbringing, Dani's lack of self-esteem and accompanying resentment pushed her into the wrong crowd and from then her life became a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure by her continous returns to jail, thanks to her inability to curb her drug-taking and violence.

After giving up her baby, she lost all hope and became almost accepting of her lot in life and lacks the incentive to change. But after getting a new cellmate during her umpteenth prison incarceration, Dani begins to think differently.
Martha isn't your usual prisoner - there's something different about her and Dani becomes fixated on getting her daughter back and Martha is going to help her, but she also has her own agenda.

The story is a very raw account of prison and the seediness and misery that accompanies it, along with a parallel thread of burgeoning hope and that all is not lost.

It's not very often that a book keeps me up all night to finish it, but that is exactly what happened with this one. I initially found the tense and the way the narrative read a little difficult to begin with, but once I got used to it, it was easy to read. I started it yesterday night and had finished it by the early hours.

The author has cleverly used her work experience within a prison to create an extremely well-written, compelling and complex tale of loss, anger, despair, resentment, yet hope. There are some excellent twists in this book, some of which I didn't expect at all and I would thoroughly recommend.

[Angela Mellor]

One More Chance is a book on a character, Danielle Grove who is in prison and has spent most of her life in and out for various wrong doings. Danielle gets a new cell mate, Martha, who is a little strange at times to say the least. Danielle has a dream that she can see her daughter, who is in the care of foster parents, go to an event in the park near where Danni used to live, whilst there she gets bitten by a dog so Martha reckons she can do things and hatches a plan to get Danni out on that day and hopefully to not have to return. This book leads up to this event but it’s not the thing I liked about it, the main thing is learning a little of prison life and getting to know Danni better and finding out she is deep down a nice person and how she copes with the prison bullies and life.
This was a book I wouldn’t normally read but totally enjoyed it as it drew me in from the start, the characters were good and although the story doesn’t have a fast pace it has just enough happening to keeep you totally engaged.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Little Brown Book Grouo UK-Dialogue Books for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

[John]

It took me a while to finish the book as it was somewhat repetitive and tough read, which is probably what you would expect, being so heavily focused on the prison environment.

Dani is typical of many of offenders, says all the right things but not strong enough to do the right thing eg she thinks she wants to be back in her daughters Bethany's life but the pull of her addictive past is too much.

That said, I was really rooting for Dani hoping she would be an exception to the rule /high level of reoffending and that she would be someone who was able to change. She wasn't.

Dani's chances of changing disappeared as soon as the very odd Martha became her cell mate and, as the story unravelled, it became less believable.

Martha's spiritual superpowers, Dani's dream which became a reality, Dani's realitvely easy escape from prison, her gullible probation officer Emma, the convenience of a lorry in the prison to aid her escape and take her back to her old stomping ground and Dani finding her daughter all alone with no carers in a throng of people, bringing her dream to life.

All in all a disappointing read.

[David Perrett]

This book was quite different to what I was expecting and for the right reasons.
It was much more than just the usual cliched, hard prison drama.
As well as the grim reality of prison and drug addiction you get a much deeper story of a person's inner battles.
Told through the eyes of Dani, a young mother and junkie, serving time and desperately trying to get straight so she can be a good mother to her little girl.
The story delves into Dani's emotional character and dips back into her past and to how she got to be where she is.
You always feel that at heart she's really a good person who has made very bad choices from which she cannot get away.
Despite the dark subject, there were times when the story made me want to laugh as well as cry.
There was also a supernatural element which was clever.
Yes, a very good prison story told from a quite different angle.
Top marks = 5 stars 🌟

[Mark Hughes]

What a great read this book is. Fully formed characters and believable situations.

Although I have never been in prison (except as a visitor) I recognised the situations and wanted to help Dani Grove. Although she isn't a person who would want any help and would think you were doing it to screw with her metaphorically. I had sympathy for her even though she was a junkie who didn't know what she wanted and would sabotage events herself.

At first I was reading this slowly but as I got more and more in to it the quicker and quicker it went until, oh, I've finished. A very satisfying read and one that has me thinking about Dani's life and mine and how different they are.

Superb. A must read.

[Jude Harsomething]

I was kindly given an advanced copy of this book. Thank you netgalley.

The novel focusses on a the main character who is a perpetual inmate in jail. Gets out, comes back in. But there’s a problem... she has a child...she wants to be a parent to her child. So she’s got to get out, turn her life around. The only thing is trouble follows her, can she keep her temper and her temptations under control to get her baby back?

I’m on the swither between 3 and 4 stars for this. The premise is good, the story is good but I felt the ending was rushed. Lots of detail in the first 2/3 of the book then the ending slightly rushed. But that’s being pedantic even by my standards. Definitely worth a read

[Sally]

I was really absorbed by this book, couldn't put it down! It centres on Dani, who is an inmate in Holloway prison. She's desperate to see her young daughter again and hatches a plan with her cellmate to escape. I couldn't wait to see if the plan would work and really enjoyed the characters. I assume the author must have done a lot of background research as it paints what I imagine to be a realistic picture of prison life especially where the other prisoners are concerned. A good read with gritty, well rounded characters. Highly recommended!

[Nicola]

I really didn't know what to expect with this one, I don't normally read books about prisons but I really enjoyed this, I was kept guessing all of the way through which made a great read. Interestingly I would like to see the next book if it ever gets written, I really grew to like the characters in the book.
I don't do spoilers in reviews, but if you're looking for a good read - well written story then you'll like this.

[Alex]

Brilliant! I was gripped by this pacy, eye-opening, moving novel about a young woman in prison. It feels realistic - despite a slightly supernatural element to one small part of the plot - and true, which is a credit to the author’s research and experience. I highly recommend this to readers wanting a page-turning read, written sympathetically but convincingly from an unusual viewpoint. It has real heart.

[Salli]

The book is well written and the author knows her subject but for me it was just a little too predicatable, to the point where I kept putting it down not wanting to engage in where it was going. The little bit of magic I get metaphorically, wouldn't it be nice; but from another angle it seems just a bit strange given the deep reality of the rest of the book.

[Jody Wheeler]

Not to bad

It took me a while to read. It’s not one of them books that you want to keep picking up cause it’s great. In the end I was just as confused about the story as I was when I first started reading it

[Pam Mc Donnell]

A good insight to prison life but the story was confusing at times. The flashback scenes were good but could have been elaborated more and I would have liked to have seen the conclusion with a better understanding of what was going to happen for Dani.

[Your Mumanddad]

Wonderful intriguing novel.
Well drawn characters, a plot that piqued interest throughout. A little larger than life in parts but not so much as to make it lose any credibility.
Highly original subject matter.
Satisfying realistic denouement.
Highly recommended.

[Sarah]

Set in a women’s prison, this is a compelling story, and one that is told with real compassion. The setting and the dialogue are both superb. Lucy Ayrton brilliantly captures the brassy vulnerability of a troubled young woman and the story is a genuine page-turner. A big, big recommend from me.

[Bookaholic]

Dnf could not get into this at all

[Biff meechan]

Good Debut

Really liked the story & the character,but was a Goodread as well, 👍U will look for her next book👍👍👍well done

[Debra Carty]

It was fair to middling. I feel that the author could have delved more into many Martha character.

[Heidi]

I was sent a copy of this by the publisher. This has not influenced my rating.

Review originally posted to This Is My Bookshelf

I was incredibly intrigued by that synopsis, but wasn’t sure what to expect.

What I got was look into the life of a young woman in prison while her daughter is being brought up in foster care. Naturally she’s desperate to be with her again, and her slightly strange cell mate offers her a chance to do just that.

This novel felt very real. It didn’t try to glamourise life in prison, but seemed to give us a view into the real lives of the inmates. Given the author’s connection to prison charities, including spending time in Holloway’s Mother & Baby Unit, she has some real knowledge of the location.

Overall, I was well and truly sucked into Dani’s story. I was kept on tenterhooks throughout, and devoured the novel not wanting to wait to find out what happened.

There was a small element of the story which I was concerned about where it was going, but fortunately the pieces were fit together brilliantly for a fantastic ending.

I can’t wait to see what else Lucy Ayrton writes.